


Blood On Our Blades

by Akira_Jikan



Series: Keith Month 2018 [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Before Kolivan orders Keith to get Krolia, Gen, Prompt 4: Honest/Deceit, Sets after Zarkon's death and Lotor becoming Allies with the Paladins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 20:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16205429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akira_Jikan/pseuds/Akira_Jikan
Summary: "You're a Liar!""Maybe he truly has betrayed you.""No- No it can't be-""I've made my choice.""Kill him."





	Blood On Our Blades

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 2: Family and Prompt 3: Space Wolf is on my Tumblr because they are artworks.  
> Follow me on Tumblr: [AsianMC-AJ](https://asianmc-aj.tumblr.com/)  
> Beta-ed by Silvamoon

“You’re a liar!” 

 

Everyone looked at Pidge in shock. None of them expected to hear an outburst from her, but after hearing the information received from the Blade of Marmora, it was understandable. They were all still trying to process the information that was given and the paladins didn’t know what to think of it.

 

Keith betraying them? That’s like Allura willingly giving all the lions to Zarkon.

 

“He wouldn’t have betrayed us! Keith would never deceive us! There- There has to be some kind of explanation!” 

 

Her teary eyes held determination, sadness, denial, and fear. Glaring at everyone, her eyes scanned them before landing on Shiro.

 

“Shiro, you’ve known him longer than any of us. You believe me, right?” 

 

Shiro looked into her eyes and hesitated for a moment, before reaffirming himself. “Pidge is right. Keith would never betray us.”

 

In his heart, he knew Keith wouldn’t do it. After all, the boy had proven to them so many times that he would do anything protect the people he cared about or even random strangers. But, his head was trying to think of the facts they were aware of. 

 

While he knew that the Blade of Marmora wouldn’t lie to them, it didn’t make sense as to why Keith is with the Empire now.

 

Matt frowns at his sister, understanding her feelings. He reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder to steady her and squeezes lightly.

 

“Maybe he truly has betrayed you.”

 

Everyone’s head whipped to look at Lotor, who had stayed quiet throughout the meeting. 

 

“Mullet would never!” Lance shouted angrily. While he would never admit this to anyone, especially Keith, he truly admires the former paladin for his selflessness and bravery.

 

“Are you sure, paladin? From what I’ve seen, you all avoid him whenever he comes to visit and there seem to be some unresolved tensions among you,” Lotor pointed out. The paladins flinched at hearing those accusations and knew the Galran Prince was right.

 

After Keith left to join the Blade of Marmora full time and Shiro became the leader of Voltron again, the tensions from before only grew. Even after the defeat of Zarkon and Lotor’s crowning, they still didn’t dare to breach the topic.

 

“All of you have been so busy avoiding him that you never noticed what he was hiding. He may have pushed you away first, but none of you ever tried to stop him.” Lotor made a disapproving hum, as he stared at the paladins with disappointment. He could tell they felt a bit of responsibility and guilt from his words, but there also seemed to be some denial.

 

He wasn’t close to Keith, far from it, but that didn’t mean he was blind to how the smaller half-galra felt. He could see the familiar dejected expression, the closed-off aura, and the loneliness and pain in those violet orbs. 

 

If this was before his own generals betrayed him, he would have taken the little blade in, but alas time was different now.

 

“It doesn’t matter now,” Kolivan interrupted, as he stood tall and rigid, giving no sign of how he felt of the former paladin’s betrayal. “Keith could have told them everything about us, due to his time with the paladins and with us. We need to be cautious with how to proceed.”

 

“Kolivan is right. Keith knows too much and while we do not know the purpose for his actions, we need to consider every possible situation and reason,” Allura spoke, as she crossed her arms to hide her clenched fists.

 

While she was able to get over Keith being half-galra, there was still fear of him leaving them for the empire and it seems her fear came true. But, she needs to have faith in him because he would have given all of them the benefit of doubt if they did this too.

 

“But, why tell us this now, Kolivan? You told us Keith disappeared almost a phoeb ago,” she added, her eyebrows furrowing at the BOM leader.

“We believed that he was lost or captured. Zhex, Keith’s partner for the mission, returned barely alive. He has been in a coma until recently and after gaining his strength, he gave us his report. It was revealed to us that his injuries came from Keith and before he lost consciousness, Haggar and her druids were standing beside Keith.”

 

Kolivan takes out a luxite blade and they immediately recognized it. After all, Keith rarely parted from it, so seeing it with the BOM leader, they knew that he wasn’t lying. “Keith had thrown this in Zhex’s ship before the hangar closed. He made his choice quite clear.”

 

Pidge frowns in thought. None of this made sense to her. There were missing pieces and until they can find out what they are, they were stuck. Suddenly a thought came to her, “Maybe if we could see Zhex’s memories through the cryogenic pod? Just to see if there was anything he missed.”

 

All of them shared a glance at Pidge’s suggestion. The paladins were a little apprehensive due to their last experience when they used it with Sendak, while Kolivan didn’t want to risk Zhex revealing secretive information about the BOM.

 

“Ummm..” Everyone looked at Hunk since it’s the first time he decided to speak. Hunk nervously laughed before continuing, “Why don’t we use those mind headsets? It’s less intrusive and quicker. Pidge and I could tinker with it a bit so that it can be viewed on the screen?”

 

Kolivan nodded his head and hummed in approval. “I will speak to Zhex about this.”

 

“Thank you,” Shiro said, as he nods at the man. 

 

~~~~

After a few quintants, the paladins, Matt, Lotor, Kolivan, and Zhex were in the control room. Everything was already set up and luckily enough, Zhex agreed to share his memory.

 

“Zhex, it might be best for you to sit down,” Pidge suggested, as she typed on the computer.

 

Hunk takes out the mind headset and rechecks its settings, before handing it to Zhex. “Here. We added some adjustments to it like it improves your memory better or well, at least makes the memory clearer.”

 

Zhex nodded his head at them and sat down on the chair. He held the mind machine in his lap, as he waited for further instructions.

 

After a few doboshes, Pidge claps her hand in excitement and uses a finger to push up her glasses. “Alright! Everything is set! You can put on the headband now.”

 

While she’s afraid of what she’s going to see, she’s also curious to see if her new installments would work. She added a recorder to the headset so that Zhex only has to use it once and it would be saved into the system. They would be able to pause, rewind, and zoom in on the memory.

 

After everyone settled, Zhex puts on the mind band and closes his eyes. 

 

The screen was black for a while before a clear image starts to form.

 

_ Zhex is staring down at the tech in his hand, memorizing the pathways of the ship they plan to sneak into. _

_  
_ _ “Do you think there will be anything important there?”  _

 

_ He glances at Keith, who is piloting their ship, before looking back at his tech. “Possibly. However, it seems unlikely since the empire’s ships rarely go to this location.” _

 

_ Keith makes a humming noise in agreement. It was quiet for a while, before Keith alerted Zhex, “We will be there in about 5 doboshes.” _

 

_ Zhex grunted and stood up. The mission was simple. Keith goes to the central command to download the data, while Zhex will cover him through the system. It should take no more than 30 doboshes. _

 

_ Keith lands behind a few big rocks to cover their ship. He unlocks the hangar and takes the chip from Zhex’s hand, before jumping out. _

 

_ “Remember, you have 30 doboshes.” Zhex reminds in the intercom.  _

 

_ Keith grunts in confirmation and stealthy advances towards the door, while waiting for instructions from Zhex. Zhex stares down at the holographic map and watches as sentries are walking down the hallway. _

 

_ “Wait for 5 ticks before entering and immediately go left. There should be a few doors, enter the third door on the right.” _

 

_ He watches Keith’s dot do as he is told. While doing this, he also hacked into the camera system to prevent Keith from being seen or recorded. _

 

_ Once he saw that Keith was in the room, he instructed, “There should be a vent. Quickly enter, another sentry patrol is entering that corridor.” _

 

_ After 3 ticks, he heard Keith’s low voice, “I’m in the vents.” _

 

_ “Good. Keep going straight, take the first left turn, then turn on the second right. Count 7 ticks and then you will be right on top of the vent opening to the control room,” he ordered. _

 

_ “Understood,” Keith replied.  _

 

_ While Zhex waits for Keith, he checks over the other cameras and notices that there weren’t cameras in a certain part of the base. _

 

_ “Zhex, I’m right on top of the room,” Keith’s voice crackled in the intercom. _

 

_ Zhex looks at the holographic map and replies, “Wait for 5 doboshes. There seems to be someone in the room.” _

 

_ It was quiet as they waited, the silence increasing the tension. Before the 5 doboshes ended, the dot in the room began moving towards the door and left. Zhex held his breath as he waited for the dot to move away more, just in case. _

 

_ “Okay, Keith. You can enter now.” _

 

_ “Got it.” _

_ He could hear a bit of metal movement in the intercom before it became silent.  _

 

_ “Zhex, I’m in the system.”  _

 

_ Zhex finally breathes out, unconsciously holding his breath earlier. While he hadn’t known Keith for long, the young blade had already wormed his way into the Galra’s heart.  _

 

_ Keith’s quiet presence and persistent attitude made all of the blades have a soft spot for the tiny one.  _

 

_ Zhex was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Keith’s breathy “No- No, this can’t be true- Gahhh!” _

 

_ “Keith?!” He asks as he looks at the map and camera screens. There wasn’t one in the control room so he can’t see what’s going on. _

 

_ He waited for a few ticks, but when Keith didn’t reply, he began to get nervous. “Keith, can you hear me? What’s wrong?” _

 

_ The static noise from the intercom continues and Zhex checks the map again to find there were 3 other dots in the room with Keith.  _

 

_ “No..” he whispered, worry filling his mind. _

 

_ That wasn’t possible. He counted all of the dots in the base and saw that they were the same, except for the additional 3 in the control room with Keith.  _

 

_ Zhex curses under his breath, unsure of what to do. The mission has been compromised and they need to leave, but Keith is still in the base. _

 

_ “Dammit,” he curses, as he leaves the ship. He can’t go through the vents due to his larger built, that’s why Keith had to be the one to get into the control room. _

 

_ Zhex quickly makes his way through the base, using his map to guide him and the virus he placed in the system to cover him. _

 

_ Luckily, he was able to avoid being seen and made it to the door in record time. He swiftly leaned against the wall, next to the door, and readied himself.  _

 

_ If worse comes to worst, he trusts Keith to be able to get them out of there.  _

 

_ Placing a hand on his blade’s handle, he tenses and touches the hand scanner. The door opens and a bolt of purple magic shoots out. _

 

_ ‘Druid,’ his thoughts supply as he grimaces. If the druids are here, then that means this base is a facility for experimentations or quintessence.  _

 

_ “Show yourself, blade.” A raspy voice calls out. _

 

_ Zhex curses to himself in his mind at hearing that. While he has never made contact with Haggar before, he would recognize that voice anywhere from the video feeds they have received. _

 

_ Tensing, he moves to stand at the doorway, his blade unsheathed and poised in front of him.  _

 

_ What he sees confuses but also alerts him because there is Keith in front of him, unharmed but has his blade out, while Haggar and two druids were facing the small blade. Although, he isn’t able to see Keith’s expression since the male still wore his mask.  _

 

_ “Let him go, Haggar,” he orders, as he readies himself for combat. _

 

_ “That isn’t your decision. Keith has already made his own choice,” she replied, her voice calm as if there was nothing to worry about. _

 

_ If Zhex had human eyebrows, they would be furrowed, instead, his eyes squinted in confusion at that remark.  _

 

_ “Keith, what does she mean?” _

 

_ It was a tense silence before Keith turns around to look at Zhex. Keith looked unharmed to Zhex, confusing the older blade more. _

 

_ He watches as Keith tightens his grip on his blade. “I’ve made my choice.” _

 

_ Everything was wrong. Keith’s voice was emotionless, completely void of emotion. While Keith could be expressionless, his voice has always held emotion, whether it was anger, coldness, or shyness. This didn’t make sense. _

 

_ “Kill him,” Haggar ordered. _

 

_ Zhex expected the druids beside Haggar to attack, but instead, it was Keith. _

 

_ Keith quickly lunged forward, his blade going straight for Zhex’s chest. Zhex swiftly blocked by bringing his own blade to counterattack Keith’s. Keith’s attacks were more straightforward and strong while Zhex’s was swift and hesitant. _

 

_ He didn’t want to hurt the other and he knew something wasn’t right here. Maybe he can get Keith away from Haggar, he would return to normal. With that thought, Zhex hurriedly stepped back and feinted an attack at Keith before running away.  _

 

_ Whatever is happening here, he needs to report it to Kolivan promptly. _

 

_ He could hear Keith’s footsteps following him and takes a different direction out of the base. Cursing to himself at seeing the sentries at the end of the hallway. _

 

_ He swiftly dodges the blasts sent at him and attacks them. In a moment of distraction, Keith slams into him, sending the taller blade into the wall. His head slams harshly against the metal, but he hastily rolls away as Keith’s blade lodges in the spot where his head was. _

 

_ Grunting to himself, he sped away again, his free hand held the back of his head. It didn’t take long before Keith began to pursue him again.  _

 

_ This continued on as Zhex tried to talk Keith out of it while trying to navigate out of the facility. A few times, Keith almost stabs Zhex, but the majority of the time the older Galra received cuts and his head being slammed against a wall or floor. He did his best not to bodily harm Keith, not wanting to wound the other. _

 

_ Not long after, the two exited the building and Zhex finally turns around to attack Keith. _

 

_ Keith didn’t expect this and was unable to dodge the swipe on his side, receiving a fairly large gash. He gripped onto his side and parried blows with the other.  _

 

_ Zhex noted how Keith was able to cover his wounded side, leaving no weakness. Additionally, the tiny one still attacked strongly, maybe even a bit more fierce. _

 

_ “Keith, snap out of this! We need to go!” He ordered, continuing to try and reason with the male. His head was hurting more and he feels a bit dizzy. Maybe he had hit his head one too many times while running. _

 

_ If the young blade wasn’t wearing his mask, Zhex could bet that the other was narrowing his eyes in anger. _

 

_ Keith’s attacks became more frantic and there was a moment of midstep. Zhex quickly used this to push the other one backward. Taking this chance, Zhex runs to the ship and hops in. His vision becoming a bit blurry and the headache increased. _

 

_ As he presses the emergency escape button, Keith throws his activated blade at the injured Galran. Unable to avoid it, the blade goes through Zhex’s right torso. Grasping the blade, Zhex’s breath stutters and all he could feel is pain. _

_ His ship lifts off and as his hangar door closes, he looks back at Keith. Through his bleary vision, he could see Keith’s mask dissolve and the male’s mouth moves but is unable to hear the words being said. _

 

_ He could barely make out Haggar and her druids standing behind Keith, his focus getting hazy. _

 

_ The hangar door closes before Keith could say another word and the ship instantly flies away, going into hyperspace.  _

 

_ Zhex relaxes in the pilot chair, as his hand grasps the part of the blade that meets his chest. He could only hope to reach the headquarters alive and warn Kolivan of Keith’s apparent treachery. _

 

_ With that final thought, Zhex’s eyes close as his breath continues to come out stuttery. _

 

It was silent, as the screen slowly blackens. Zhex takes off the headset and quietly hands it back to Pidge.

 

They were all shocked at what they saw. They didn’t expect it to be this bad and to Kolivan, it explained why Zhex arrived impaled by Keith’s blade. 

 

“Hold up. Pidge could you rewind the memory to when Keith’s mask dissolves at the end.” Matt says as he leans forward.

 

Pidge does so promptly, carefully rewinding the scene. They watch the scene carefully and Matt makes the movement to rewind again and Pidge does so.

 

At the third rewind, Matt hastily says, “Stop! Right there! Now zoom closer to Keith’s face.”

 

At the paused scene, everyone held their breath. In front of them was Keith and whatever Haggar did to him, angered them. From somewhere under Keith’s clothes and upward to the right side of his face, it was like a lightning scar, or vines, that spread on him. It was glowing purple and seemed to pulse. 

 

His right eye was completely yellow and glowing. Although the left side of his face remained unharmed. Keith’s left eye was filled with a firm coldness that spread through their bones.

 

“What- What did she do to him?” 

 


End file.
